No Sure Bet

Editor’s Note: This article is the first in a two-part series about the appeal, temptation and dangers of sports gambling.

Not so long ago, the notion of intermingling gambling and the world of professional sports seemed ludicrous. For generations, those who ruled the leagues understood allowing bets on games would taint the sport.

No more. Now, announcers nonchalantly promote sports betting on the air. Billboards advertising sports betting companies adorn stadiums. Odds scroll across the television screen, urging viewers to place bets. More than two dozen TV sports networks that air regional professional baseball, basketball, and hockey games are owned by casino companies, primarily FanDuel.

More than a decade ago, sports betting interests began bombarding TV viewers with repeated invitations to participate in sports fantasy leagues. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a federal law that kept states from operating, sponsoring, and promoting commercial sports gambling ventures (today 39 states have legalized sports betting, with over $150 billion wagered last year). In 2021, for the first time, the NFL permitted gambling companies to air commercials during televised games, ads that commonly show popular actors or retired athletes having fun by placing bets.

HOOKING THE AUDIENCE
During the just-concluded college and professional football playoffs, gambling commercials from DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM dominated the airwaves. Advertisements appearing on TV and popping up on mobile phones are geared to entice the novice bettor — especially young men — with promises of hundreds of dollars in “free” money to gamble. And there is no bigger sports betting event than the approaching Super Bowl, which serves as an entry point for many first-time gamblers.

In bonus or promotional bets, companies offer a surefire proposition to ensnare the uninitiated. For example, a customer agrees to spend five bucks on a bet that New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, NFL’s most accurate signal caller during the regular season, completes at least one pass during the game. When that happens, $300 is deposited into the bettor’s account for more wagers.

“They want you to sign up and they want your deposit, but even more they want you to think it’s easy and you’re going to win,” says historian Jonathan D. Cohen, author of Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling. “They want you to develop a sense of overconfidence. Once bettors have an early, easy win, they believe it’s impossible to lose.”

Most betting these days isn’t about which team will win the game or even the point spread. Now, online sports betting companies make their profits in two primary ways: in-play wagering and parlay wagering. Both involve bettors placing potentially hundreds of wagers a day, including non-contest factors that cover everything from which team will win the coin toss to what color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach.

In-play wagers focus on what the next play entails, such as whether the upcoming second down will be a run or a pass. Artificial intelligence technology makes such “microbetting” instantly possible.

Lately, younger bettors are gravitating to “prop bets” that focus on an individual athlete’s performance or some aspect of the game, such as the total passing yards. Individual player props often are combined with “parlay” bets, which are particularly attractive to the novice gambler. In this scenario, a multitude of random players all must achieve certain statistics for the viewer to collect. For instance, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold must throw a touchdown pass in the first quarter; then the New England Patriots must convert a fourth-down play in the second quarter; finally the combined final score of both teams must exceed 60. Although the potential payout is large (especially if more “legs” are added to the scheme), the likelihood of all the events happening is nearly impossible, making it the equivalent of a sucker bet. Because the house nearly always wins, parlay bets are the most profitable for online sportsbooks (and the ones most heavily advertised).

“These longshot bets basically turn a sports bet into a lottery ticket,” says Cohen, who leads gambling policy efforts for the American Institute for Boys and Men.

“The commercialized gambling world is all about acquiring customers,” says Les Bernal, national director of Stop Predatory Gambling, based in Lawrence, Massachusetts. “Advertising lures in people who may have never gambled before by promoting free wagers. It’s the equivalent of giving out free fentanyl. It’s extremely addictive.”

TARGETING YOUNG MEN
Almost half of American men ages 18 to 49 have an active sports betting account on their mobile phone, according to Siena Research Institute. Males 18 to 24 years old, already programmed for incentivized rewards via video games since early childhood, now are the fastest-growing online sports betting segment, men who anticipate hitting it big. Subsequently, in the past couple of years, enrollment in gambling treatment centers and attendance at Gamblers Anonymous meetings have been dominated by this younger demographic. It’s a vast change from the days when the only legal betting transpired through bookies in Las Vegas and Reno.

“On college campuses today, there is relentless advertising, to young males particularly, to sign up for massive wagering on all aspects of the game as a normal experience,” Bernal says.

Gary W. Blackard, president and CEO of Adult & Teen Challenge, the Assemblies of God U.S. Missions ministry to those with addictions and other life-controlling issues, says recent government statistics indicate 15% of men ages 18 to 24 struggle with a clinical gambling disorder. He expects the problem to exacerbate by the end of the decade, as those making $20 bets now will be placing wagers into the thousands.

“Gambling doesn’t have the stigma alcohol and drugs have,” says Blackard, who is based in Ozark, Missouri. “Any time the government legalizes behaviors, it changes the belief system for a lot of people. It opens the door for them to try more and more.”

Blackard, 57, says with such legitimization a person’s thinking can escalate from “it’s just a bet” to an emotional dependence on the potential of winning.

Cohen, 35, says gambling companies are glad to run a government-required disclaimer in small print at the end of commercials listing phone numbers for those who have become addicted.

“It absolves them of responsibility for the ‘irresponsible’ gambler,” says Cohen, who lives in New Haven, Connecticut. “They say, We offered you a hotline if you got into trouble. It’s your fault. You weren’t paying attention.”

Such help is insufficient, Cohen believes.

“It’s fishing people out of the water who are already drowning, rather than building bigger guardrails around the pool to keep them from falling in,” Cohen says.

Cohen also is troubled by gambling advertising shown during sports broadcasts.

“The reason it’s problematic is that it’s indoctrinating impressionable children with gambling content,” Cohen says. He notes that the government banned cigarette advertising on television 55 years ago for the same reason.

Cohen likewise is irked at announcers and commentators acting as spokespersons for the gambling industry in the middle of a game by matter-of-factly mentioning betting odds, a recent development to stimulate viewer appetites to bet more.

Marketing agreements with professional sports leagues heighten the legitimacy of sportsbooks companies. On some telecasts, odds continually appear on the screen whether the next pitch will be a ball or a strike, the likelihood of a whether a runner will steal, the probability of the batter hitting into a double play.

“The goal is to normalize sports betting, to make it as normal to gamble on sports as it is to watch sports,” Cohen says. “A new product has been introduced out of thin air and created a generation of sports bettors.”

“Gambling is now the centerpiece of sports,” says Bernal, 56. “The sporting event itself is secondary.”

Cohen stresses that online betting is much riskier than in-person wagering at a casino or racetrack. There are myriad instant online betting options on a player’s phone, and money flows in and out of the bank account effortlessly.

“You can bet on the speed of the next pitch, over and over,” Cohen says. “It never stops.”

An even more insidious temptation lurks in a recent backdoor innovation called prediction markets, with a platform called Kalshi being the most high-profile purveyor. Theoretically, the site offers people a way to bet on such innocuous prognostications as the number of bridesmaids at Taylor Swift’s wedding or the length of President Trump’s next press conference. But, Cohen says, in reality a legal loophole allows customers to “invest” in game outcomes even where sports gambling is banned. Prediction markets are available in the 11 states where sports betting is illegal, including the two most populous states, California and Texas, as well as Utah, where no legalized betting of any kind is permitted. Most states with legalized gambling restrict it to people 21 and older; Kalshi permits 18-year-olds to bet. Cohen says 90% of bets on Kalshi involve sports wagering.

INTEGRITY OF THE GAME
Athletes who are paid multi-millions of dollars annually have myriad opportunities to manipulate games, from faking an injury to dropping a pass, to try to siphon quick additional money from gambling syndicates. In the past three years, dozens of professional and collegiate players and coaches in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, golf, and swimming have been investigated for insider sports betting. In 2024, the NBA banned Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter for life for making prop bets on himself. The same year, major league baseball banished San Diego Padres infielder Tucipita Marcano for life for betting on games in which he played. Suspended Cleveland Guardians pitchers Luis Ortiz and three-time All Star Emmanuel Clase remain under investigation for throwing certain pitches last season that sparked an unusual amount of gambling activity.

Various college athletes have reported demands for money from gamblers who claim to have lost money on bets due to their performances. Likewise, coaches have described death threats to their families.

Cohen notes that scandals in sports have been around at least as long as 1919, when eight members of the Chicago White Sox faced accusations of intentionally losing the World Series after payments from an organized crime figure. Concerned about corruption and integrity of the game, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned the players for life, establishing a nearly century-long barrier bifurcating gambling and sports.

“But with gambling ads being shoved down every one’s throats, it’s more likely athletes see it as easy money now,” Cohen says. “Back then, no one could make $100,000 throwing a certain pitch in the seventh inning.”

Bernal reiterates that state governments regulate gambling by granting certain sportsbook companies the authority to operate. While technically those under 21 aren’t permitted to engage in online gambling, Bernal says it’s common for teenagers to create virtual private networks to circumvent age restrictions. They also place bets through older friends and siblings, he says. Gambling sites merely ask users if they are 21; it’s easy for teens to lie about age verification if they have access to a credit card. Bernal says high school authorities throughout the country are dealing with students whose grades are flagging because they are obsessed with placing bets rather than studying.

Bernal notes that a person’s brain often isn’t fully developed until the early 20s, and young people aren’t prepared for the potential financial disaster sports betting could bring.

“The advertising and constant discussion of gambling during the game, the pregame, and the postgame shows has normalized commercialized gambling, especially for kids,” Bernal says. “The message is you’re not a true fan anymore unless you’re wagering on the games.”

John W. Kennedy

John W. Kennedy served as news editor of AG News from its internet inception in 2014 until retiring in 2023. He previously spent 15 years as news editor of the Pentecostal Evangel and seven years as news editor at Christianity Today.